Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Possibilities
by Nox Calyx
Summary: Caesar, a former human, has mysteriously turned into a Pokémon at the behest of an unfamiliar voice's plea. All the information he has to him are desperate cries of help, and dreams of other Pokémon in danger. As he travels and experiences the mysterious nature of this world, he will realize how much of a role he has to play in it. Somewhat based on Gates to infinity.
1. Awaken

_Well, here we go, my new PMD story, this time, it's based on Gates to Infinity! I'll just cut this short and hope to improve myself and my creativity, as well as having joy in you all enjoying a good read!_

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…

A thought of silence. Yet it wasn't unaware. Not asleep, but very awake.

… …

Everything looked unfamiliar in its sight. It was bright, shining, as if a rainbow was coming from somewhere.

… … …

Confusion was the first emotion felt. As much as that presence wanted to keep silent, it's voice cannot be held back.

 _W-where…_

It looked like a path. No… more like a tunnel. But to where, though?

 _Where… Am I…?_

Another similar thought, reaffirming its confusion. It could see, but without the feeling of sight. Colors of different hues, a mix of blues, yellows, and purple created a surreal atmosphere. It didn't feel tangible, as if a surrounding mist was wrapped was around one's own conscious. His conscious.

 _A-am I… dreaming?_

Despite the uncertainty of the sight around it, the light provided a weird sense of… comfort. It didn't carry any sort of dark intent. It was warm without a sense of touch. Suddenly, there was a change, one that was seen, a ripple coming from the light at the center spreading outward.

"..."

It was another presence that wasn't felt earlier. But it wasn't just a feeling… it was…

 _A voice..?_

The ripple disappeared, as if such a disturbance in this ether was paused.

 _That… had to be one… I'm not imagining it…_

Then there was another ripple. A much bigger and more noticeable one. This time, instead of a silence, there was something more than that. He both felt and heard something.

" _...ey...Ca...ar…"_

He has a heard a voice. It was faint, yet it can be heard as it was far away, wanting to become closer. The waves that were appearing in the tunnel was bigger now, starting to look like waves in the water.

 _That has to be a voice...! Calling out… to me..!_

" _You… You who can hear my voice… Might you be a human…?"_

One couldn't just simply respond to a sudden question, especially with that kind a question it is. Even though without a physical form, the very concept of a human was remembered. A human? It should be obvious!

 _Yes…_

As soon as the answer was formed, there was a tinge of uncertainty that arose. Would such an answer be giving out information that should be obvious. Why was the question asked anyway? Why answer, when there was a possibility that there won't be a response?

" _Heed my call, human… Listen to my plea…"_

The voice carried a soft tone. There was no sense of aggression, only a tone of sadness and an inflection that was very sincere.

" _Please… This world… This Pokémon world… I must implore you… to save it… I… We need your-"_

It's as if previously a gentle wind was blowing into the light, a harsh disturbance coming as a flash of light coming from the center of the tunnel.

" _ **HELP!"**_

The calm, colorful, serene atmosphere was suddenly torn, a screeching sound made as the sight looked like it had been torn. The tear though had left space that led to another sight. Instead of any semblance of the previous sight, it was a dark sight, rocks being lined everywhere and formed the walls, ceiling, and floor. It was a cave.

 _W-what the-?!_

The space inside these caves wasn't empty though. There was something running away. Despite the darkness, there was enough to see a small creature that was mostly round with four short legs. It had a bright color of mostly pink, with a pattern of big purple flowers on the quadruped's fur.

 _A Munna…?_

It was running away from something, looking from its face, eyes closed tightly head facing toward. One look from what was chasing it and it was terrifying to look at. A dragon with black and dark purple colors. It just didn't have one heads, as it had two additional heads coming from what looked like it's arms. It's heads had their mouths bared with their teeth menacingly.

 _A Hydreigon?!_

It was flying with overtaking speed, closing the distance between the two of them.

 _N-no…! Stop...!_

* * *

But what could one do if what all they can see is just that, with nothing that can be done to interfere with the chase? The Hydreigon looked even angrier as it approached the Munna, it's two arm heads extending out and-

 _STOP!_

Before the potential horrific image came to be from the dark vision, it suddenly blacked out, cutting off what could be seen from the other side. Not even a moment later the bright colors and serene imagery came back, but it was different time, as there was only two dominant colors everywhere, blue and white. The white color was shaped in a way that resembled clouds sitting on the floor, with blue being under the cloud visage.

 _W-what happened…? Those Pokémon…!_

The calm surroundings did not help with his current feelings. A Hydreigon chasing that Munna down, hunting it down even!

 _I have to help them…! But how...?_

He didn't notice it at first, but there were splotches of gray starting to form in from of him, a blurry image being created by the clouds. He stopped thinking about the fire situation he just saw to look at what formed.

 _Is this… a shadow?_

 _Instinctually, he thought of a motion to move, specifically an arm. But he felt something. Movement. The supposed shadow right in front of his vision moved with him._

 _Wait… this isn't a shadow…_

The fuzzy image started to become more adhesive, there was less blurry lines between the light and dark, and it wasn't just a general gray that formed. The figure grew more clear, with a noticeable tinge of blue and yellow appearing with it.

 _It's a reflection… but…_

The complete picture was hard to see, but it almost felt unfamiliar, but a little bit recognizable somehow. The reflection formed to a point where it wasn't a gray painting, now starting to show more color, variations of blue, yellow and white. With not a moment later, what's left of blurring the image in from of him, leaving a reflection that was clear to see, but what he saw...

 _N-no… It can't be…!_

What was in front of him was completely not what he expected. The body is shaped like it resembled a frog, with slender legs and arms. It's head was oval-shaped, with two tall bumps coming from the top of them, and within those bumps were yellow eyes, black irises, and shiny white pupils. The nose looked like it was covered by two small white spheres. The arms were thin yet flexible, with fingers that are shaped to flow naturally in water, almost webbed. It wasn't just a bare frog-like body. From what looked like it, a fluffy white substance that resembled wool covered around the neck and was compacted around the back of the neck, with a small chunk of it going down the front. The color of light blue all covering most of the body, only contrasted by the white of the hands, a darker blue bridging from between the eyes to the nose.

 _I… I look like a Froakie! But how...?!_

Still in disbelief, he reached out towards the reflection, with the arm that the image was reflecting repeating the same action as him. He moved his other arm, the same happened as well…

…

His thoughts turned silent once more, both in shock and in awe. He moved his body again, starting to believe that he has become what he saw. He moved his fingers, and it felt odd compared to what would be human fingers. It felt more flexible, smooth. He moved his hands all around himself, his skin feeling smooth, almost slippery, even. Feeling the fluff on around his neck, it didn't feel like wool. It felt like soft cloth that almost stuck to his digits. His legs were vastly different from just being on two human legs, because there were made to be like a spring, bent to shape like they were meant to be used to hop, not walk. He felt weird trying to do so, as it was difficult to squash and stretch his legs to do such a simple motion. But strangely enough, it wasn't completely impossible, as if there was a small instinct that it felt… a bit natural to do it.

There was a small anomaly in the landscape… There was something in the distance, something shining. An orb, maybe?

He took a few small hops, being careful so that he won't fall, towards that direction. Within a few hops, the floor of fog dissipated a bit, and from what he saw, causing him to reel back a bit from surprise. The misty clouds covering the floor made it seem rather than it actually was. Now he saw there was a hole in where the orb was, shining in the center. The hole was as blue as the sky, looking very much if the sky was upside down. But he was standing on the level the hole was.

 _A sky on the bottom…? That doesn't seem right…_

He wanted to reaffirm his suspicions. Taking a small gulp, he slowly peered over the edge, closing his eyes, expecting for an endless stretch of sky going downward. He opened them again only to see his own reflection perfectly.

 _Whew… so it's a pond… But… I really did turn into a Froakie… This has to be a dream… this is impossible! But it feels so real…_

He reached out into the water, only to get about a half of his fingers in before hitting something solid. It was very shallow water that he could hop across on. Indeed he did hop on it, making a small splash, strangely none of the water being thrown into the air, only carried by the waves.

He carried on with more hops to reach that orb in the center of the pool, stopping right when it was right in front of him. Nothing happened while standing right there. With that came a hint of curiosity, and a slight hint of cautious dread, as he slowly extended his hand towards it.

The white tips of fingers touched the orb of light, and within a fraction of a second, There came bursts of blue light coming out of nowhere as they surrounded him and the pond. The wisps trailed into the pond, swirling around and forming unknown but patterns in it that resembled spiraling circles. Before he could wonder what they were forming, rays of bright light radiated from the pond, forcing him to close his eyes but could only dim it so much that he still saw it. He had an instinct to get away from the pond, and fast! He tried to move himself, but he could've as he was weighed down and kept in place. He couldn't help but shield himself from the light that increased in intensity as the pillar of it enveloped around him to the point where nothing but white could be seen.

 _Gaaaaah!_

He felt nothing for a moment, then felt something hitting him from the front. It was.. wind! But he didn't feel like he was standing on anything. But that could mean…

He opened his eyes. What came to him was a rush of a vast array of colors. The blue sky, splotched with streaks of white, the sun shining above the horizon. A glimpse down and he could see trees, a gigantic forest of rounded trees were scattered across the landscape, almost blocking the ground below. He saw a peak of a mountainside just standing near the horizon. So much of the landscape filled a coast of water, sands of the desert, rocks of canyons. All of this information that he processed before realizing why he could see it all.

He was falling, and from a great distance up at high speed no less. The ground was getting closer, unbelievably closer at the velocity he was falling at. His breath was stolen away for a brief second before the shock caused him to scream.

"AAAAAAAAAH! IIIM FAAAAAAAALLIIIIING!" He yelled at the top of his lungs at nothing but air as he moved his arms and legs, trying to slow himself down in some way, but to no avail. He could only watch himself see the ground getting even closer. If he hits the ground at this speed he would…!

"S-SOMEONE HEEEEELLLP MEEEEEEE!" He screamed again, but knowing it was a fruitless endeavor. There was nothing but the quickly approaching landscape. His heart beat faster and faster, breathing in and out rapidly to stop, then rapidly fire again. His brain couldn't handle the overload of adrenaline and fear. Before he could see himself hit the ground, everything quickly went white.

* * *

We're off to a grand adventure! As this tale has some similar keys on a piano, this journey is going to be a little bit... unique. Leave a review, if you can! See you in the next chapter!


	2. Clash

A/N: **I will be officially be called Nox Calyx from now on! With no wonder of magic here! And we're off to the next chapter!**

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"Uwaaah! Someone help me!" We're words that reverberated across the line trees of the forest. As they were yelled out, it came with it a rustling of grass being trodden on haphazardly with no consideration, accompanied by heavy, panicked breathing from the one who screamed. It was a quadruped, swinging its legs back and forth and big strides as fast as it can. Its fur was covered in a dark, a shade of ebony that contrasted from the rays of sunlight that were shingling through the gaps between the trees. It had a long bushy tail that was waving wildly, not even touching the ground as the running Pokémon kept it from getting gravity to affect it. Around its neck was a fluff of fur that was darker than the rest of its body, shaped as it was moved by the wind in one direction. It had pointed furry ears on its head, with a fluff of hair between them, having highlights the same color of the bottom of its legs. It was carrying a brown satchel that was rustling with assortments of items in it.

The Pokémon's head turned back to briefly look at what was pursuing it, only to see an arc of white light streaking vertically in its direction.

 _SCHWING!_ Came the sound of screeching claws cutting across the air. The sight and sound of this attack caused its eyes to widen, reflexively making a short hop to the side as the ark missed it. As it did, it only got a glimpse of its attacker.

Running on two legs, with arms that resembled claims more than fingers, it was running too. But it was running towards the one who was in front of it. It had red appendages looking like feathers attached to the side of its head and and act as its tail. It had a jewel on its forehead and sharp looking eyes.

"Get back here you damn Zorua!" It screamed out in an angry masculine tone. He was running at nearly the same speed as the fox Pokémon in front of it. "Give me back my satchel!"

The only response that he got was the Zorua running faster, gaining a bit more distance in from of him. That just made him scowl and grind his teeth.

"Grrrraahh!" The footsteps became faster and faster from the both of them, one trying to catch and the other avoiding to be caught. They dashed through the trees, weaving between them, both of them unwilling to give up.

"I've had enough of this!" The clawed Pokémon exclaimed as he shifted his head directly at the Zorua. "Icy Wind!"

The air suddenly became cold behind the Zorua, the wind picking up her faster. It was coming so fast that it almost made them lose their contact to the ground, but just enough for her to stumble.. And that wasn't the only thing that the wind did. Specks of white crystals blew past them, some of them speeding towards their body.

"N-Ngh…!" It felt like dozens of tiny pebbles striking against their fur. _T-this is bad…! Oh why did I think of doing this?! I didn't know I'd be up against a Sneasel!_

They didn't have time to think about regretting why they was being chased because the cold caused their strides to become smaller, slowing down as a consequence.

"I've got you now!" The Sneasel was closing the distance between them, smiling as he anticipated of ending the hunt by striking her down! He readied his claws, ready to slash right at them.

The Zorua grimaced. _I've come too far to fail now…!_ They thought. They continued to run, but it was just an attempt to delay the inevitable. They were really starting to panic now, hoping that something would happen to halt the Sneasel's pursuit.

As the distance between them got even closer, the canopy of the trees blocking the sky were gone, sunlight fully shining down on the both of them.

 _I can't run anymore! I… I need to fight back! I have to!_

"It's useless to run away now!" The Sneasel yelled as he jumped forward, bringing his claws back to ready his claws right at the dark fox, a joyful smile on his fanged teeth.

 _It's now or never!_ Suddenly, she stopped in her tracks as the bipedal Pokémon was in mid jump, sharply turning their body in a flash, front paws swinging back to swing right at the clawed fiend.

"W-what?!" The Sneasel's eyes widened as the Zorua's claws were headed right at him, going at a high speed. And with his current momentum, it left him open to attack if he attacked now. He had to do defend himself or risk getting damage to his body or face! He crossed his arms in the front of him as the fox's claws struck right at them, causing lines of claw marks to appear on them.

"G-grahhh!" He growled in pain as he was knocked back from the swipes of the Zorua's claws, landing a short distance from them in the clearing. He landed as best as he could, his left knee buckling a bit, bending more to the point he was kneeling down.

 _Now's my chance!_ Without a moment of hesitation, the dark fox charged right towards him, claws at the ready to strike at him again.

The Sneasel's sight picked up the speeding fox that was aimed to attack him. "You dare to attack me?!" He quickly stood up and swiftly stepped to the side, causing the Zorua to miss him. Before they could turn at him, He raised one of legs and swiftly raised them at the fox's side.

"Ack…!" Was all that they could say, the breath being driven out of them, their body flung to the side, rolling until they were left facing upwards. They briefly got a glimpse of sky and saw something… strange. It looked like a small dot…No… it wasn't circular enough… but...

The Sneasel wasn't done yet, taking a few breaths to recover from the stinging pain from his arms. "Hah… Look at what you've done! Cutting my arms…!" He hissed. He observed one of them, trying to take measure of how much damaged that strike was. He could see the lines of where they were cut, and saw a small streak of red liquid coming from one of them. He was bleeding, not by a lot, but he was. He looked with disgust.

The Zorua was still distracted by the object falling from the sky, there were distinct lumps from the dot. That isn't some rock… it was…

 _A Pokémon from the sky?!_ They thought. _And it's falling right towards us…!_ Their eyes widened as she thought of an idea.

"I'll make you pay for what you've done... including stealing what I rightfully own!"

The Zorua snapped back to what was happening. _If I could just distract him… Just for a bit..._

"Y-you don't own it… it belongs to my client…!" They retorted.

The Sneasel scowled. "Oh, I see… You're in one of those _exploration_ teams, huh?"

The Zorua rolled back over to look back at him. "N-not… exactly…" they said, still somewhat out of breath from being flung by the kick in their sides.

"You aren't? I see, you're just an _imitator_ of them, just like your kind! Just a fake! You don't even have a badge to prove it!"

The Zorua kept silent. He was right… they aren't an official explorer… but now's not the time to think about that! If he can just talk a bit more, even if it doesn't hit him… that's when the perfect chance to strike will open!

"It's better that you don't even join one! Everyone who's part of one is weak and can't rely on themselves when they have to! Working alone is the best way to survive in this backstabbing world!"

What the Sneasel was saying made her wince. Not because he was wrong, but he was partially right. It was hard just doing things alone...

"... Hehe…" the fox chuckled.

The Sneasel was caught off guard. "Hey! What're you laughing for?!"

"Oh nothing… I'm sure working alone can work out great… It might be even necessary... but there's a problem to that…" The Zorua's mouth turned upward into a full on grin. "There'd be no one to help you when you're about to be defeated!"

"You think so, huh?! You're the one who's gonna-!" Was all he said before he saw a streak of blue dash in the front of his sight. His eyes widened as he suddenly stepped back.

 _WHAM!_

Dust and grass scattered everywhere suddenly, causing him to cover his eyes and cross his arms in the front of him. "How the hell-?!"

"You should've stopped yapping and struck me down while you had the chance!" They yelled back as of their paws quickly reached into the bag.

"You…!" Despite being unable to see clearly by the amount of dust in the air, he could still see the silhouette of the fox. "I can still see you! You're tricks ain't up to snuff!"

He readied his legs and ran right at her, making a few steps in the cloud of dust he was in toward the Zorua. "You're done for!" He screamed as readied his claws. He saw the cloud of dust disappearing, sprinting even faster, smiling in anticipation of victory. He saw the Zorua with on of their paws extended as if they threw something. He briefly looked slightly down, seeing something brown and oval shaped speeding right at him. And it hit him.

 _BOOM!_ There wasn't enough time to process what just happened. All that the Sneasel felt right after that sound is feeling the wind coming behind him, the trees coming farther away.

The Zorua was not not that far away from the blast as well, being pushed back by the fleece of wind, causing her to tumble as well.

A thud sounded, feeling his body being struck by the ground, all he could do was just in grunt out in pain. A moment later, the smoke cleared, leaving him laying on the ground, in shock of the blast.

"H-how…?" He gasped out, his breath shaking, feeling himself becoming numb.

"Heh… just plain luck… I hope my client will forgive me for using one of their items…" the Zorua lamented.

"Hnngh... Damn… you…" he panted out before he became limp, losing consciousness.

"Good grief…" The Zorua sighed and let their body fall flat back the ground again, just relaxing after the rush that just happened. "Glad that's taken care of... who knew a Pokémon would fall from the sky… and here of all places... Speaking of which…"

They turned to see the impact made from the Pokémon who fell, a whole ditch was formed across a short distance in the middle of the clearing.

"I hope they're okay…" They stood up and turned their body side to side, shaking off some of the fur that caught the dirt caused by the impact. She walked slowly towards the end of the ditch where they got a clearer look at the Pokémon that fell.

"A Froakie…" And by the looks of it was an unconscious one. They stepped closer to inspect for injuries. They gasped… as there weren't any that were seen. Not even a single bruise. There was something else, too. The Froakie was _breathing._

 _But… how? That fall was fast enough to smash anyone flat!_

"Hey… are you okay…?" they shaked the unconscious frog slightly with their paws. No response. They shook him harder. A twitch came from of its fingers. "Come on... wake up...!"

A small mumble came, then… its eyes opened.

* * *

 **A/N: Ohohoho! Looks like that crash did more than just get someone's attention... What'll happen next, how will they react when this stranger wakes up? We'll see how it plays out in the next chapter! Please review as well!**


	3. Doze Meeting

**A/N: Ain't it fun how I got back into the groove? It's been fun writing again! Without further ado, let us move on!**

* * *

 _Ohhh… Everything's… spinning…_

After falling from such a height, everything was in such a whirl. He couldn't move himself.

"Hey….wake…" A faint voice called out to him. A boy or girl voice, he didn't know. It was too hard to tell.

 _Is someone calling… to me? Oww… My head… It hurts so much…_

Then, he felt something, or rather, something touching him on his side. He felt it pushing against him, causing his body to move along with it. Someone was trying to get him to respond.

"Unnnh…" He groaned. His eyes were barely open, seeing only huge blues of green and blue with the sunlight shining. But he saw something else different, a figure looming over him, colored with a dark purple with small red highlights.

 _Gotta… open my eyes…_

Within a few seconds his eyes slowly opened… the blurriness clearing a whole lot more… He finally saw what was staring at him. It looked like a fox, with pointy ears, bright blue eyes, and a tuft of fur on the top of the center of its head. He immediately recognized that it was a Zorua.

"Are you alright…?" They asked.

 _H-huh?!_ His eyes widened as he couldn't believe what was coming out of the Pokémon's mouth. It gave him so much of a shock that it caused him to jolt his head upwards suddenly.

"Woah! Watch it!" The Zorua immediately backed their head away from the Froakie's head, only to barely avoid from getting headbutted by him.

"Oof… ow…" He immediately felt his head hurt again, the dizzying feeling coming back. But he couldn't stop staring at the fox.

"Huh… I guess you aren't. I should've guessed since you hit your head…" They said, staring back with worry.

"Am I dreaming right now…?" Was the words that came out of him in response to the Zorua talking. _A Pokémon, talking?! H-how…?_

"What…?" The Zorua turned their head, confused. "Wow… you must've _really_ hit your head…"

"Wait!" The Froakie interjected. "It's not that… it's that you can talk…"

"... But you're talking," they said back. Was that a joke? He couldn't tell with the confused tone they said it in.

"O-oh… yeah…" He looked at his arms. They're blue and white as a Froakie's. _I'm still a Pokémon… Heh… I guess I can understand them because of that._

"You're strange, you know that? Falling from the sky like you did. And without having any bruises from hitting the ground, too," The dark-type said.

"Eh? Oh…" He was suddenly reminded of why he was here. The ditch he was in indicated he hit the ground very hard. But he felt fine despite the head pain, which was starting to fade away slowly. "Yeah, that's really weird… All that hurts is my head."

"I see… do you know _why_ you fell from the sky? I don't see how a water type of all Pokémon would just do that."

"Um, well, this is gonna sound really strange, but… I'm a human..."

"A human, huh? Is that so…?" The Zorua seemed to focus more attention to him. They began to pace around him, tail swaying slowly. They had a suspicious look on their face, with one their eyebrows raised. "You look like a Froakie to me..."

"But I'm telling the truth! I swear!" He exclaimed. He assumed that he didn't want to get any into trouble with that look on their face. But he couldn't really lie about it either.

"Are you really?" They asserted.

"Y-yeah… but…" he realized something. All that he knows is that he is was human. But there weren't any specific details about it that he can't recall. His past life and his other memories, he couldn't remember. They were gone. "I can't remember anything else other than that…"

"Hm. You don't look like the lying type, but just to make sure…" They suddenly leaned in forward, their eyes looking very serious and almost seemed to stare through him. "Answer me this, then… am I a guy… or a girl?"

 _What…? What kind of question is that?!_ The frog Pokémon was caught aback by the question. _I mean, I figured they wouldn't believe me right away, but why ask that kind of question?!_

"Well?" The Zorua asked, still staring at him.

"Erm… a guy, I guess...?" He quickly answered, almost fumbling his speech. It was the first thing the popped in his head. Being given only a few moments to answer, it just blurted out of his mouth. It was a 50/50 chance, so he might as well say something.

"Hm…" they continued to stare intensely for a few seconds, before pulling back again, their mouth turning upwards into a grin. "Heh, you guessed right." It felt like all the air of suspicion that they carried was gone. "Though I'm pretty sure you guessed it."

"Huh? Excuse me, but how is that supposed to get you to believe that I'm a human?"

"Oh, it doesn't. I just wanted to see how you'd react to a question like that. If you say you were a human, then I believe you. Like I said, you don't seem to look like the lying kind of Pokémon," The fox said with a small smile.

That left the former human dumbfounded. His jaw was was hung open a little from just the… for lack of a better term, surprise at the willingness of the Zorua to believe him.

"With that out of the way, what's your name? I just can't have myself calling you Froakie all the time, do I? If you can remember it, that is."

 _N-name…? All this one, and I didn't even bother to think of my name?! Think… what was it…!?_ Then… it suddenly came to him, among the things he couldn't remember, his name wasn't one of them.

"Caesar," was the name that came out of his mouth.

"Well then, Caesar! Pleased to meet you! You can call me Noir!" The fox greeted back.

 _Well… you certainly warmed up to me fast. Though you don't barely know me at all. But I am lucky I didn't wake up to meet someone worse…_

"Oh! I really should thank you for falling, though. You saved my fur!"

"Eh? What do you…?" The Froakie looked around a bit to see that someone else was lying on the ground, clearly unconscious and covered in dirt. "Oh… I see. Did I do that?" He asked, bewildered at the unconscious Sneasel, covered in dirt and cuts. "But I couldn't have made those cuts on them."

"Well… It was more like you provided the perfect distraction. You should've seen the look on his face when you hit the ground! He was like, 'Oh no! Someone fell from the sky and almost hit me! You didn't fool me!' Hehe!" He imitated while mocking the unconscious ice type.

 _Yep… he's a bit weird, I'll give him that._

"Um, you're welcome?" Caesar said awkwardly.

"Now we can get back and get our reward!" Noir said proudly.

"Wait a minute. Us?"

"Yep! Consider this a team effort, even though I just met you! You deserve half of it!"

"Er...O-okay…" Caesar still was still unnerved at the Zorua's attitude. "But why? I only crashed in here by accident."

"Hmm… I just wanna give you the benefit of the doubt, I suppose. It's this feeling I'm getting from you," The fox looked to the side for the satchel on him. He opened it up and rummaged around a bit and pulled out an Oran Berry, passing it to the water type. "Here you go! It should get you up and running!"

Caesar felt the berry on his plan as it landed on his hand. It felt weird, having three digits than having a human's five of them, but it's just what he'll have to get used to it for… however long he's gonna be in this place. He said his thanks before eating it, the sweet juices landing on his taste buds. It almost felt like he was munching on soft candy, but not so much that it didn't make him uncomfortable. Soon whatever pain he had felt in him disappear like water washing away footprints in the beach.

He felt active enough to move himself again, stretching his legs a bit and rubbing off the dust that got on him. "Mmm... that hit the spot…"

"Hm, looks like I owe them a Blast Seed and an Oran Berry, unless…" Noir murmured.

"Owe who what now?" Caesar asked.

"Oh, right! This bag. It got stolen by the Sneasel, and I wanted to get it back to them. Shame I couldn't get my own bag with me… They were running away so fast that I couldn't lose him. If we can get a few spares in the mystery dungeon on the way back… although we could lose more items in the process… Unless we go through it quickly enough..."

"Mystery… Dungeon…?" Caesar asked. Even though he recognized what and what kind of Pokémon there were, the term 'Mystery Dungeon' was foreign to him.

"Ah! I should explain, since you said you only had memories of being human and nothing else," Noir said as he raised a paw to his bottom jaw. "Basically, it's like… well… actually it's a bit hard to explain."

"Oh," He said, a bit disappointed by the lack of explanation.

Noir continued to ponder for a moment. "Hey, I got an idea! Why don't we go through one together, then! We'll go through the one I mentioned!"

"But you just said-" Caesar started to say but was interrupted.

"I know that! But I'm at least sure that they'd be willing to lose something! They looked nice, at least…" He said, smile fading a bit, doubt clearly setting in him.

"But... what if they aren't?" Caesar asked. He also had doubts, as he thought of what would happen if that was true, and by the looks of it Noir had similar thoughts running through his mind as well.

The Zorua shook his head to get those thoughts out of his head. "D-don't say that, Caesar! It only gets me worried! They have to at least understand why. I'm willing to take that risk!" He reaffirmed himself as he started to walk towards the edge of the small clearing.

"Come on! We don't wanna waste daylight just by standing around here!" He said as he passed by the unconscious Sneasel. He turned his head towards him, smile disappearing for just a second, replaced one with a more serious expression. "And I hope you learn not to mess with a Zorua like me, you got it?" He said to him, only to reach for his bag and pulled out another Oran Berry and set it right beside him.

"What are you doing?"

"Just… hoping that he won't cause us any more trouble again, alright?" Noir said solemnly, with his smile returning after a second as he resumed walking.

"Noir, h-hey! Wait up!" The Froakie rushes to get back up fully on his legs and hop to him. Noir was walking at a leisurely place, wanting him to catch up. He didn't see the Zorua's expression even as he came closer. It didn't take long before he catches up to him.

Caesar didn't know why, but he was starting to like that weird attitude that he's seeing from him. It felt… almost like they were meant to meet each other..

"Well then, Caesar, I'll just show you the basics as we go through this place, alright? We'll be through in around an hour or so."

"Got it," the Froakie looked back at the fox, determination on his face. Noir just smiled back.

The surrounding forest trees seemed to repeat themselves as they started to get under the canopy of the forest, with Noir guiding the front and Caesar trailing in the back.

"I don't know if I consider meeting you lucky, but I do know this! I won't have to be alone with you at my side!" Noir cheerily yipped.

Caesar smiled back, as if Noir's positivity was spreading towards him. He might as well consider to be lucky to meet him.

* * *

"Unnnnngghhhh…" A voice in the clearing groaned out. It was the Sneasel that was left behind. He slowly regained consciousness, pain still aching through his body. He had a flash of what happened right before he was knocked out.

"Blast Seed… I should've known…clever bastard got me good..." He struggled to get up, only for his body to thud on the ground again. With his injuries, he wasn't sure he was even going to get out of here without passing out again.

"Argh… when I see that Zorua again… They're gonna get's what coming to them..." he was going to vent his anger more until he saw the Oran Berry that was sitting right next to him. He could only stare at it for a few seconds. It would've been easy for them to leave him for dead, but…

He grabbed it before he took a bite out of it, his aches starting to dull somewhat. He sat down and looked around the leafy trees and the quiet rustling of them from the wind that blew through here. He couldn't see him around from where he's at. He must've left a while ago. He also so the ditch where the impact occurred, where it was empty and the end. It must've been someone that fell from the sky. He had heard of such incidents happening recently, but for one to crash here? What a good time for _that_ to happen.

"Why…?" He wondered. It was all though his mind as he ate. Why leave him something to heal up with? Why not just leave him to get his comeuppance? What about the one that fell from the sky? He stayed put, eyes looking down, thinking about it until he got better enough to get himself stand up again. He couldn't focus on that now. He needed to get back with the others.

"You got lucky, Zorua… really lucky…"

* * *

 **Oooh, mystery. Ain't that a fun thing to explore in a Mystery Dungeon game? Anyways, I've been thinking of publishing a new chapter on Wednesdays and Thursday to the best of my ability. Either way goes, it's what I'm aiming for! Please leave a review! I appreciate it!**


	4. Learning the Ropes

Noir and Caesar continued to walk through under the canopy of trees, so much so that Caesar started to feel that it was starting to repeat itself a bit. The tree trunks, the leaves, and the sunlight all seemed the same now.

"Do you feel it…?" Noir asked.

"Feel what? The mystery dungeon?" Caesar asked back.

"Yeah. The first thing you need to know about these places is that they never are the same every time you go through one. Just take a look around," Noir gestured. He still had that peppy attitude, but Caesar saw that it waned a little bit.

The former human eyed his surroundings as was told. The trees were still the same, yet it unsettled him by how they were around him. Though they did look like they were placed randomly like a normal forest should, but it almost felt there was a sense that it wasn't completely natural, if that made sense.

"It feels like the forest changed… but not really," he said back at him.

"Yep!" the Zorua confirmed as he kept walking. "There've been more that have been popping up recently. Even this place wasn't a mystery dungeon a few months ago."

"Popping up? You mean, they can appear anywhere?"

"Pretty much. Forests, canyons, mountains…"

"Sounds like you know a lot about this stuff," he commented.

"I explore here and there. Gotta make sure you're prepared for such things! You also gotta fight other Pokémon that live in them, they don't wanna do anything more than knock you out," the Zorua briefly explained before stopping himself in his tracks. "Looks like we're near it now."

Caesar looked in front of where the fox looked. There was a path. He looked down and saw that the path was also leading to right under them too. "Woah… I did not notice that."

"Hmm…" Noir suddenly had an idea pop into his head. "Hey, Caesar, why don't you take the lead for this?" Noir asked.

"H-huh?! Why? I barely know how any of this stuff works!"

"Trust me! You'll do fine! Besides, it's not that hard of a dungeon, anyway. I know you can do it!" he tried to encourage him.

"B-but… I don't know how to fight… or use moves… did you forget I told you I was a human?" Caesar didn't really wanna do it because of it.

"Well… you're a Pokémon now, aren't you? Why don't you do what feels natural? It's how I've been taught!" The fox said proudly.

"O-okay…" The water type conceded.

"That's the spirit!" Noir said cheerily as he stepped to the side. "Lead the way, your majesty! Hehe!" He chuckled.

"That isn't going to help much…" Caesar muttered at the title he Zorua named him as he hopped forward to him.

"Oh! Before you do…" Noir quickly took off the bag off him. "You gotta carry this to make sure you're ready to carry your items!"

The Froakie was handed the strap of he bag as he put it over his head and resting on his left shoulder. Well, more like the left side of the bubbly fluff around his neck. He lifted and and realized it didn't weigh as much as he expected. Only using just enough effort to keep it on without being too much on a burden on his mobility. He almost felt a bit more confident wearing it, smiling a little.

"Oh, I see that smile! You got an adventurer's spirit, I just know it!" Noir exclaimed.

"Thanks. I do feel a bit more prepared tackling this now," the frog said, more relaxed. Even though he was still a bit nervous, he was ready to go in. He went towards the path, with Noir following him, into the dungeon.

 **Verdene Forest**

Caesar could definitely feel the atmosphere changing. The air felt different. It felt like there wasn't a breeze that was passing through here.

"We need to go through here a bit quickly, we don't want to use anymore items unless we need to. Think of the bag as just a rock on your shoulder, alright?"

"Got it… you said that we needed to get those items that you used, right?" He asked.

"Two Oran Berries and a Blast Seed," Noir listed. "We need to get those and my client won't notice we didn't use anything from her bag."

"Well, what's a Blast Seed?"

"Heh, those things can deal massive damage! Boom! Used it on that Sneasel and immediately knocked him out! I still can't get used how satisfying it is throw them at other Pokémon! Haha!" He cackled, enjoying himself a bit too much.

"Okay… I don't think I need to know more than that…"

 _Note to self… Don't ask Noir about explosions… or probably fire, again._

"Hahah! Anyway, any wild Pokémon can come towards us and attack us. Just don't think too much about fighting them… alright? I'll cover for you if anything happens, so don't worry too much."

"I hope so..."

They continued through the path until it opened up a bit, and Caesar can see a few ways to go to from here. No items here though.

"Is there anything else that I need to know about these mystery dungeons?" The Froakie asked.

"We need to find the stairs to go to the next floor."

"Stairs…?" Caesar cocked his head. "Well… if you say so… let's go that way," he pointed in a random path that he hoped would lead a little bit closer through this place.

The sound of footsteps were heard coming from the direction that they were headed. _There's something coming!_

And something did come, a pink and light yellow blur came by running towards him, only to feel something tackle him on the side, causing him to reel a bit. He grunted in surprise. Noir only observed a bit away from him.

The attacker hopped back ready to charge at him again, with its tail with its ends swinging with anticipation. It only took a second for it to attack again, it's short claws scratching the frog.

"Ack!" Caesar hopped back reflexively to recover himself, now fully aware of the situation after a second.

"That Skitty won't be too much trouble for you, won't it?" Noir said with an observant smile.

"It just caught me off guard, that's all!"

"Need some help?"

"I got it!" The amphibian retorted back at took a second to reel from that second attack, but now, he was ready to fight. The Skitty hissed at him, poised to attack again.

 _Alright Caesar… just like Noir said… just make it feel natural…_

The cat like Pokémon growled again as it charged right at him, hoping to Headbutt the Froakie. But this time Caesar was ready. It ran closer to him, head aimed right at him, but without even thinking, he jumped to the side, one of his hands swinging back, folding together as he felt power surging through it. He swung right at the cat, the impact causing it to yelp out and hiss in anger.

 _Ha! I think I used Pound! I got them!_ He mentally rewarded himself at the revelation that using simple moves wasn't as hard as he thought!

"Yes! That's how it's done!" Noir cheered.

" _Hiss!"_ Their celebration was cut short as the sound came from as it retaliated by launching forward to swing its claws towards him.

"That won't work!" Caesar yelled as when the normal type swung at him, he tightened his legs, wanting to jump. Since he was a Froakie, he jumped high above the Skitty that needed up under him, still caught in the momentum of its charge. Twisting the direction of his body midair, he used Pound again on the side of the Skitty's head. It reeled back again, only to fall unconscious.

"Knocked it out!" Caesar said as he landed back down. He didn't take too much damage, but the marks were noticeable to see a bit.

"Heh, and you said you did it know how to fight," Noir said smugly.

"W-well…" The only thing that he can do was just chuckle and smile sheepishly. "I guess I doubted myself too much."

"I told you you'd do fine! Good thing too, or else we'd be wasting items, so let's keep going!"

"Right!" With some new confidence in his mind, he led the both of them throughout the floor of the dungeon to find the stairs. As he did so, Noir watched him as he followed him.

 _He's certainly learning this fast… Maybe I can ask him when we get through this place…_

"I think I found the stairs," Caesar said as he saw what looked like steps leading upwards. But to where, he doesn't know. He probably assumed another floor, but how would that happen…?

Noir sighed. "But we didn't find anything…"

"Well, there could be something on the next floor, alright?" Caesar tried to encourage him.

"You're right. We have a few floors left to go. Let's hope we'll get what we need!"

Caesar went up the steps, only for his vision to flash black for just a second, before his vision was returned. Instead of expecting of being above he steps, he was on the ground instead of the steps, with no stairs in sight with Noir right behind him. "Huh… I guess that's how it works," he noted before the both of them moved on.

Other than the Skitty that they encountered on the first floor, there were other Pokémon that were present too, such as Munchlax and the occasional Dunsparce.

"Let's try not to waste our time with all of them, okay? We just need to deal with the ones that we can't avoid," the Zorua warned as they went through one of the rooms in the second floor. They still kept an eye on items that could've been laying around on the ground. Even the Pokémon that they came across with, they just waited until they passed by. And the ones that couldn't be avoided where dealt with with just a few Pounds by the Froakie.

"Aha! There's an Oran Berry over there!" Caesar said to Noir as he hopped over to get it.

"One down, one to go!"

"Also, there are these coins…" The amphibian pointed to coins that were marked with a strange P symbol on them. "I think it's like money, right?"

"Poké? Yeah, it's what we use to buy and sell stuff!" The Zorua said as he picked them up. "It's not much, but any amount we get is good."

They still continued to walk through the floor until they reached another set of stairs. They didn't encounter any extra Oran Berries as they went through the floor. Not even a Blast Seed. Hey climbed the stairs again, leading to another floor.

"Hyah!" Caesar yelled as he used Pound again to swing his hand at a Dunsparce, knocking it back before fainting.

"Looks like you're getting better at it, Caesar!"

"Hehe, yeah!" The amphibian smiles. "Though, I don't think Pound is the only thing I know… there's something else, I feel it. After all, I am a water type, right?"

"Well, yeah. You should know a simple water type move…"

"Hmm…"

They continued to go forward, but Caesar was thinking about a water type move he could use. What would be simple… yet fitting?

"I got an idea! The next Pokémon we'll encounter, I'll be the one to distract it, then you can use a water type move to hit them by surprise!"

"Sounds like a good idea."

Just a little while later, there came more footsteps coming from the front of the duo.

"Well, here it comes." Noir stepped in the front of Caesar and went ahead of him. "Do it just like we discussed!"

What came from one of the corridors was a Munchlax, headed straight at the Zorua.

"Heh… won't take much keeping your attention!" Noir murmured as he readied himself, his legs poised to move quickly as needed.

The normal type grumbled as it charged right over right at him, aimin to ram at the Dark type. But it was more of a light jog rather than a full sprint. Noir jumped out of the way to dodge the attack.

"Come on! I know you can hit me! Or are you too lazy to try?" He taunted. That only served to make the Munchlax slightly angrier as it charged right at him. Noir stepped to the side to run around it as it went past, striking it with his claws.

Caesar on the meanwhile was half think about the water type move that he has the potential to use and the other half watching Noir seemingly easily avoided the attacks.

"Hey! It's about time to use that move now!" Noir yelled at him.

"H-hold on…!"

 _Think! What can a Froakie do with water…!_

As he thought about it, Noir kept avoiding the Munchlax's attacks. He counterattacked with scratching blows to the side, weakening it bit by bit. He could go harder and knock it out now but this is for Caesar's sake. He needed to know if he's truly capable of fending off others. It was a good thing that they're slower than any Zorua, but he still needed to be careful. "Hah! You call that an attack?! You should hit me with it!" He taunted again.

This time, the Munchlax had enough. It had to take a massive gamble at this, but that Zorua is making it so angry it had no choice but to! It suddenly raised up one of its hands and shook one of its fingers.

Noir's eyes widened. The Munchlax used Metronome…. which means that…

"Caesar! You better have that move! Cause I really need it now!" Noir yelled loudly at the frog.

"I… I know…! But…!"

"Just do it!" Even though any kind of move can appear from that Metronome, Noir didn't want to risk the chance.

"Ok…!" Suddenly with a rush of adrenaline, Caesar rushed himself towards the Munchlax. He felt something inside him, like something rising and wanting to come out.

 _I'm gonna do it!_

The Munchlax has its target set on the Zorua, as it finished using Metronome, suddenly a ball of yellow light appeared right in front of it, aimed at Noir. It was charging up Solar Beam! With that sort of attack, he wasn't even sure that even he can dodge it. "Hurry!" He yelled as he readied himself to try to avoid it.

But there was now something else, round, almost clear projectiles heading straight to the side of the Munchlax. They were bubbles that acted as projectiles that hit the normal type, with each one creating a huge pop as they impacted its body, causing it to reel to the side. This was also at the same time where the Solar Beam charged and launched, but due to the attack at it, it missed the Zorua, but just barely, causing him to feel just the heat of it. With the additional injuries sustained by the Munchlax, those bubbles were just enough to knock it out.

"Hah! Just in time! Who know bubbles would be such a damaging thing!" Caesar exclaimed.

"Y-you did it!"

"I know… I don't know exactly how, but I did it! They just came out of my mouth and hit him… it felt weird but it didn't feel bad."

"Whew… I knew you'd do it…" Noir sighed deeply to shake off the panicked feeling he just had. "Just made it miss me…"

"Well, I feel really good about that! How about I practice a bit more with something else?"

"You can… just don't overdo it, alright? Gotta conserve that energy." Caesar nodded as the both of the them continued forward. Even through the floor, Caesar was starting to show more confidence by using his moves a bit more when they encountered the random Pokémon, with support coming from the Zorua as well. They reached the next set of stairs in less time than the previous floor. But still… no sign of Oran Berries other than other types of berries, but that wasn't what they were looking for.

This time, Noir looked a bit more worried. Caesar assumed that he was still worried about getting those items, even more than before.

 _I shouldn't have said that he should worry about it earlier..._

"We need to find another Oran Berry and that Blast Seed before we get out of this dungeon. We only have one floor left! I swear, this place has less items popping up than when I ran though here before..." The Zorua started to pace around, the anxiousness getting to him.

"Yeah…" To Be frank, he was worried too, but it seemed to be less than what the Zorua had. It must be getting to him now…

"I hope we can find at least another Oran Berry… this is the last floor…"

It turned out that Caesar might have been right. The Zorua has been going a bit slower than when they were on the previous floors. His eyes were wandering around more often than he was looking forward, trying to find what they need. Even when encountering other Pokémon, Noir was more focused on the ground than Caesar or the wild Pokémon. Passing through one of the rooms, The Froakie's eyes landed on something similar.

"Hey, here's another one of them." Caesar said. Not even a second later the fox quickly ran up to the Oran Berry on the ground and picking it up and putting it into the bag on Caesar's shoulder.

"Great! Now we need to just get that Blast Seed to get this over with, and I think this is the last floor! All we have to do is just run though here without any problems and hopefully get that Blast Seed!" Noir said, almost a bit faster than normal.

 _I think he's getting anxious..._

They both walked briskly through the place, following the same strategy than before, but this time they were slightly on edge, Noir being more anxious, always seeming to rush himself as Pokémon that attacked him were dealt with quickly but the Zorua took hits more often. Caesar on the other hand kept his focus despite the tension.

"Hey… are you okay?" Caesar asked as he started to notice that Noir was getting antsy. They haven't found that Blast Seed yet.

"Y-yeah! I'm fine…!" The Dark-type responded suddenly. Too fast to be natural. "C-come on, there's sure to be a Blast Seed around here, and then w-we can get out of here! So l-let's move!"

"Okay…" Caesar said slowly. _I think I should talk to him… but that'll only worry him more… and I don't like him look worried… it makes me worry about him..._

"No… no…! There's gotta be one somewhere around here...! If we don't find it…!" They continued onto the floor and it's different rooms, but still no Blast Seed. They even already found the stairs, but they explored more across the whole floor for a while longer...

"It's just as I thought… there's nothing else here that we need… I should've known. They don't appear much in this place…" He definitely seemed more worried now.

 _I can't stand him being worried like this! I have to speak up!_

"Noir…" The Froakie said to Noir. "I know you're worried, but remember what you said. We shouldn't worry about it too much even if we don't get everything, remember?" He tried to encourage him out of his worry. "Even if your client does say something about it, we can explain that we had to have used them because of the dungeon, alright?"

Noir took a few deep breaths as he heard what the Froakie has to say. "Y-you don't understand…"

"What do you mean? You said you didn't know the client."

"Exactly! And I don't know how they'll react! I don't like it when I'm not sure what's going to happen!" Noir said. He wasn't going to calm down at this rate.

"Hey…" The Froakie approached him. "It doesn't matter if they'll like it or not if we used their items. And… I'm sorry that I worried you about it… I shouldn't have said that they might get upset or something like that. I didn't know you'd get so worked up about it..." he apologized.

"Caesar…" the Zorua looked like he was calming down. "I-It's okay… You're r-right… I shouldn't worry too much. It's that, those types of things really gets to me, considering…" he paused for a bit, but then shook his head. "No… I shouldn't say too much about it now. I don't meet many Pokémon like you, you know…"

Caesar showed a little smile. "Heh, then it's a good thing you met me to give you some encouragement, right?" He put his arm around the Zorua's neck fluff as a sign of his encouragement.

"Thank you, Caesar… I really needed it."

"Okay, then let's get out of his place!"

"Right!" Noir joined him as they went up the stairs of the final floor of the dungeon.

 _ **Dungeon Completed!**_

* * *

 **Well, there we go! Forgive me if I don't follow Dungeon names accurately in this, so many to remember… Anyway, please leave a review! I'd love feedback! See you in the next chapter!**


	5. Retuning What Was Stolen

**A/N: And I'm back for another chapter! Had to get through a bit of a fever to write this one! Kinda hard to move when you're sick for two days, heh.**

* * *

Caesar took a deep breath, taking in the new air that surrounded the both of them as they exited the mystery dungeon. Everything didn't feel as unnatural than before, as the trees seem to be clearing up a bit, seeming to end not that for away from they were.

"Ahhh…" Noir was right behind him, also making a deep breath. He arched his back, stretching his legs. It seemed that little talk they had earlier certainly helped him feel better. He didn't look like he was nervous as before, or it was just probably the fresh air.

"Not bad for your first dungeon, Caesar," he complimented.

"Really? I don't know I could've done it without your help," the frog said back.

"Nah, all I gave was a little push, that's all!" The Zorua retorted. "I bet if you were alone, you'd make it at least through this place! Or you could've just ran for dear life to the stairs the whole way through!" He chuckled. Caesar laughed a bit with him.

"Though, I have to admit that making me lead wasn't as bad of an idea as I thought," the Froakie said.

"Yep! Though… now that we're done here, I need to head to town. But… what are you going to do?" He asked.

"Huh? Oh… I didn't even think about that…" It suddenly hit the former human that he doesn't know anything about where he is. "I don't know, actually. I don't know what I'm gonna do in this place..."

"WHAAAAT?! I can't believe you!" Suddenly the Zorua shouted at him.

Caesar was almost jumped back in surprise by Noir's sudden outburst. "F-for what…?!"

"You didn't even consider sticking along with me if you didn't know! You're a bad friend, you know that?!"

"N-n-no! I don't mean that!" Now he suddenly felt a bit sorry, because he really didn't consider that option!

"Pfff, haha!" The anger in the fox's face suddenly disappeared into a smug grin, laughing joyfully. "I was just playing with you, you big oaf!"

"Oh… Uh…" Despite now knowing it was a joke, Caesar still couldn't get over how Noir's mood changes so drastically.

"But really, if you have nowhere else to go, why not tag along with me?" Noir's demeanor calmed down into a sincere smile. "To be frank… I've met very few like you who I feel are so… open-minded. And I don't have anyone like that as a friend…"

"Friend…?" Caesar asked.

"Yeah. Please… I wanna be friends with you."

"Noir…" Caesar stayed silent for a minute. From what he could tell, Noir was perfectly sincere to ask him to be his friend, but it didn't ease the slight doubt in his mind about him. But he can't just do this alone, he doesn't even know why he's even here in this world! He needed to take the chances.

"You know what, I'll stick around with you," He said as he nodded. "Besides, I really can't say no to that face."

"Really! That's awesome!" Noir cheered as he tackled him into a hug.

"W-woah!" Caesar yelped. As he was hugged tightly by the Zorua, feeling some discomfort from it. "Um, a bit less tight, please?"

"Hehe, sorry! It's just I made a friend!" Noir slowly loosened his grip, allowing for Caesar to hug back softly. The hug was brief as they let go and continued walking, a small spring apparent in Noir's steps.

"Noir? Can I ask you something?" Caesar asked.

"Yeah, what is it?" The Zorua replied.

"This bag…" He shuffled a bit, gesturing to the bag he was wearing on his shoulder. "You told me about the client, but you never told me who it was."

"Oh yeah!" Noir exclaimed. "Well, it was an Espeon, though I didn't catch her name. That Sneasel just ran away with her bag and I couldn't help but chase after him… I only told her I'd get it back for her."

"Why did you go right after him?" Caesar asked.

The fox sighed. "Heh… I was a bit too caught up in the moment to think about it… I didn't even have my own bag with me. It's been getting rough recently."

"Then, you're lucky that I did crash in when I did, right? I don't know what happened before that, but I guess you were in trouble, eh?" Caesar said, smiling.

Noir scoffed jokingly. "Pff, I could've handled him! You just made it easier for me!"

"Right…" the Froakie said slowly.

"Are you doubting me?" Noir asked, looking almost annoyed.

"Maybe a bit…" Caesar responded, smirking.

"Oh… Just you wait, I'll make sure you don't do that, hehe!" the fox smiled proudly. The former human smiled in return.

They both continued to to walk and eventually reached the end of the forest, the line of trees disappearing behind them. The blue skies became the prominent sight above the ground, almost surrounding the eyes of the former human, the sunlight gleaming on his body.

"Woah…" Caesar marveled at just the surrounding blues and greenery around him, as a brisk wind causing the grass to sway to one side to another, creating the illusion of waves on the ground.. There were small flowers with pink, blue, and yellow varieties that stood out in the grass. There were a few mountains that can be seen at the horizon, the landscape going sharply up and down in a few places."This is…"

"Well, what do you think of the view? Interesting? Colorful? Brimming with life?" Noir asked, smiling.

"Pretty…" Was the answer that he gave, just gazing at it all. The beauty of it was hard to describe in just words.

 _So this is what the Pokémon world is like… I don't know why I feel like this… Maybe it's because of my past life that I find it so beautiful…?_ He thought.

"Is that so…" Noir said as he looked with him.

"Yeah." Caesar continued to stare at his surroundings for a bit.

"Heh! You've seen nothing yet! There's this place that I know that gives the best view of everything!"

"Really? Even better than this?" The Froakie asked, almost giddy asking about was excited to see the rest of it! "Well, can you take me to see it.

"Hmm… it's the only place where I know where to go… and no one else does… Can I trust you with that?" Noir asked, one eyebrow raised for a moment. "Of course you can!"

"Awesome!" He exclaimed.

"Now let's get a move on! We gotta head to town!" Noir said as he went down the path in the front of him, now leading the both of them.

"Where are we going anyway?" Caesar asked.

"Trust me, you don't wanna know anything about the town until we get there!" Noir hollered back at him as he kept going, almost in a full sprint.

Caesar didn't say much else as he went on trailing behind the Zorua. After several minutes of walking, or hopping in his case, he realized how he was getting used to the form he had. It didn't take much effort to move as he did, as it felt just natural to him.

He saw something near the horizon that wasn't just more trees and grass. They were structures, and the amount of them looked to make a decent sized town from what he could see. The dirt path they were on led from where they were to all the way to that town.

It wasn't that long before the duo came closer enough to see the town better. The blurry formations that Caesar saw were buildings before became more clear.

"Tada!" Noir extended his paws towards the town. "Isn't that a pretty sight?"

From what Caesar could see, most of the structures were made of wood, brown logs from fallen trees that now support the houses and other structures. There were still signs of flora that were covering some of the wooden buildings, giving an almost natural look. One thing he noticed was that there was that there was a main plaza in the center of it, crowded with different Pokémon that he could just barely see. He even saw the sign that showed the name of the town, shown on the wooden archway in the edge of the town.

"Anora Town…" He slowly read.

"So, you ready to head in?" Someone asked. He thought it was Noir, but it sounded different from the voice than he recognized. It sounded a bit deeper than Noir's. He quickly brought his attention from the town and didn't see the Zorua in from of him. Instead of dark fur with red highlights, instead was something that stood there with brown fur with lighter highlights, its tail more rounded and tipped at the end.

"Uh…" Caesar could only just look as it seemed Noir was gone and was replaced by an Eevee that he didn't even recognize.

"Hm? What's wrong?" The Eevee asked. "Don't you recognize me?"

Suddenly the Eevee's head glowed red, briefly concealing it for a moment and dissipated quickly, revealing Noir's head after it disappeared. "It's me!"

"Oh… yeah…" Caesar rubbed the back of his head. "Zorua can make illusions." He briefly remembered that such Pokémon could use it to disguise themselves as other Pokémon. He must've been so distracted he didn't see him change his appearance. But it did unnerve him to see a Zorua's head on an Eevee's body.

"Though… why are you using it now?" He asked.

"Heh, I'm just doing it because it's how I came across this place. I just got used to it, that's all. Besides, It'd be weird for that Espeon to find a Zorua bring back their bag when an Eevee told them they'd get it for them."

"Oh… I guess that makes sense."

"Though… I'm still nervous. One Blast Seed…" Noir started.

"Hey, don't worry about it," Caesar said before he could continue. He slowly took off the bag around him and gave it to the Zorua. "I'm sure they won't mind too much."

"R-right…" Noir shifted the bag over his back. "Let's go. And call me Vee when I'm like this, alright?"

"Vee… I think I can do that."

He slowly walked towards the arch that lead into the town, the sounds of Pokémon talking amongst each other getting louder. Some of them were walking around, small groups talking with each other. It looked like it was a bustling town.

"Do you know where they are?" Caesar asked. "Looks like it'll be hard finding them in this crowd…"

"Hm… when I came across them they were in the town square. We should check there first," Noir said.

Caesar nodded as Noir went through the street, the noise of the crowds becoming larger as they approached the square.

"Wheee! Watch me run, mommy!" A Shinx behind yelled behind him before passing by him and Noir.

"Whew! You're gonna tire me out if you keep running!" Another voice coming from a Luxray passed by the frog. "Excuse me sir!" They said before running down the street past him.

"Wow… this place is really busy…" Caesar murmured. Looking around him more, he saw what looked like heads of a Kecleon, a Klefki, and a Bastiodon, but bigger and looked like the roofs of shops, occupied by the Pokémon that the roofs looked like. They all were tending to some of their customers. What else that caught his eye is the building that was wider in comparison to the others, a Pokémon or two either entering or exiting out of the wooden swinging doors.

Despite all his looking around, there wasn't a sign of an Espeon wandering around the place. Perhaps it was the busy crowd, but there wasn't a glimpse of pink that can shows them.

"Noi- I mean, Vee, I don't see them…" Caesar said as he kept looking.

"Yeah, me too…" Noir agreed, his Eevee eyes also wandered around the place. "Maybe they went into the café..." Noir pointed to the big building that Caesar briefly saw.

"Let's head in there!" The fox said as he headed right through the door. Caesar followed suit, not wanting to lose him.

The inside of the the cafe looked very rural. The whole place looked like it was mostly made of wood, making up the ceiling, walls, and the fans that were hanging on the ceiling. The walls and ceiling were decorated with paint, showing what looked to be a like a rendition of the sky at night. There were tables that were organized in a circle near the walls. There were windows that had some light flowing inside from the sun outside. The center was the thing that caught his eyes the most, it was a counter where there was a shelf of assortments of berries and bottles full of liquids and other items. There was a Kangaskhan attending to the Pokémon at the counter. There was a child in her ouch that looks like a smaller blue version of the Pokémon it was in following the same motions as if it was attempting to mimic it. It was filled with the chatter of Pokémon that were at different tables. Although it was noisy, it wasn't as loud as the crowds from outside.

"Welcome to Café Star Point!" The Kangaskhan said with a soothing motherly voice and turned towards the duo waving one of her claws to them.

Noir smiled back as he went stood behind the counter across her. "Good afternoon, Miss Sheila!"

"Vee! It's always good to see one of my favorite customers here at the SP!" She smiled warmly.

"Aw, one of your favorites? You make me blush!" The 'Eevee' said, cheeks turning a slight pink.

 _SP… must be the short name of the place_. Caesar though as he took a spot next to the brown fox.

"And who might this little one be?" Sheila turned towards the Froakie.

"Oh… uh… my name's Caesar," the former human answered.

"Caesar, huh? Isn't that a cute name!" The Kangaskhan chuckled softly, causing Caesar to blush a little.

"I take it you've never been to this town before, hm?" Sheila asked. Caesar shook his head.

"Well, I know you'll love Anora Town! Now, it may be overwhelming here at first, but trust me, you'll get comfortable real quick! Especially at night! The lights makes this place such a beauty…"

"Yeah, what she said!" Noir agreed.

"Now… are you going to order anything?" Sheila said as she was grabbing an empty plate from one of the places in the counter near them.

"Maybe later, we're here looking for someone. An Espeon to be exact. I was wondering if they wandered in here," Noir said.

"Oh! Indeed I have! She's in the back of the cafe!"

"Ok, thanks!" Noir stepped down as he went around to the back, with Caesar following. The shelf hat was blocking the view went to the wayside, revealing more Pokémon talking and eating. But there was a certain pink Pokémon with a tail that splits into two at the end and had a red gem in the middle of her forehead.

"That must be her," Caesar said.

She only sat there, not a thing on the table that showed she wasn't eating anything. She was staring out of the window that was closest to her, sun shining through it. Her eyes weren't focused on the outside though, thinking to herself.

"Ohh… I hope he comes back soon…" She said. "I should've chased after him too! He might've needed help..."

Noir took a deep breath to himself, trying to calm his nerves. Caesar approached and gave him a pat on the back. "Want me to get her attention?" He asked.

"N-no… I can do this…" The fox made a determined face as he approached the Espeon.

The pink quadruped shook her head. "I'm sure it'll be fine, just don't worry too much…"

"Hey…" Noir said at the psychic type.

"Hm?" The Espeon looked towards them. "Oh! It's you!"

"Yeah, it's me. I got you your bag back," the disguised Zorua said as he sat by the table across her.

"Oh thank Arceus, you got me so worried!" She gasped as the tension inside her faded away.

"Heh, you didn't need to worry, cause I knew what I was doing!" Noir smiled. He turned over the bag to her.

"Thank you so much!" The Espeon opened the bag and looked inside searching its contents. "I hope that Sneasel didn't take anything…"

She continued to rummage through the bag, taking a few things out, mumbling to herself to check what's in it. Noir stated right her, trying to keep a calm composure. "Yep… that's here… also that… all that's left is… Aha!" She looked up, still smiling. "The Entercards! Thank goodness he didn't steal them!"

"Entercards…?" Noir tilted his head.

"Heh, perhaps I can give you a little peek~"

She looked around the cafe to see if anyone else I watching them. After a second, she briefly pulled out something from the bag that didn't look like a berry or seed. Instead, they looked like small tiles, patterned with symbols, one that was a sun and a moon, full of intricate detail and bordered with what looked to be gold. It was a brief look as they were put back into the bag.

"Woah…" Caesar awed at the design of the tiles. They must be worth a whole lot.

"Whew… Good grief..." Noir sighed as he can finally relax. From what he could see, it didn't really matter if that Blast Seed was missing if the Espeon was most worried about these 'Entercards.'

"Oh thank you so much, little Eevee!" The Psychic type said.

"Hehe… well, it wasn't just me," Noir replied. "Most of the credit belongs to him, really." He pointed at the Froakie.

"Oh! Is that so? Then I gotta thank you three times as much!" The Espeon joked as he focused on Caesar.

"It wasn't too much of a problem, Miss…"

"Emma," she finished for Caesar. "And what's your name?" She asked the Eevee.

"Vee," Noir asnwered.

"Vee, I really should give you something for your hard work!"

She rummaged in her bag again, her paws coming to pull out a bag labeled with a 'P' symbol on it. "How's a thousand Poké sound?"

"H-huh?! A t-thousand...?!" Noir yelped in disbelief.

"That sounds like a lot," Caesar added, guessing from Noir's surprise at the price.

"Of course it is!" Noir said back at him and then back at Emma. "Are you sure want to give us that much!?"

"Sure I do! These cards are very important to me, and you deserve a reward worth your while!" She smiled.

"Wow, thanks!" Noir was a bit out of breath as he drawn in the bag. He knew that taking a doing a job like this would reap some rewards, but not _this_ much!

"Now I can regroup with my partner without telling him I lost them! That would've been a huge mess if you didn't get them back for me!" Emma gathered the Entercards and the rest of her items back into her bag.

"Your partner?" Caesar asked.

"Mmhmm! I shouldn't say too much, but I can say this… These Entercards are very important to our research," Emma explained.

"Research? On what?" Caesar continued to ask.

"That's a secret~! My lips are sealed on that!" She put one of her paws on her mouth to prove her point.

"Oh…"

"If I may ask, what kind of Pokemon is he?" Noir asked.

"He's an Umbreon. Why ask?" she said.

"Oh, nothing. Just curious, that's all," Noir said, slightly looking away to the side.

"You should meet him when he passes by here."

"Maybe I'll run into him first! Who knows? Anything can happen!"

Emma giggled. "Well then. I should be taking my leave. I've been gone far too long in this town and I need to leave before he gets too worried." She got up to leave her seat and started to walk towards the door.

"You know, if you both were able to do this for me, you'd make a good exploration team. Here's hoping to see that happens! I'll see ya when that happens! Goodbye!" She gave her farewell before exiting out the door of the cafe.

"A good team, huh…?" Noir murmured. "That _would_ be nice…"

"Exploration team…?" Caesar wondered.

"I'll explain later. Anyway… you ready to see that place I mentioned?" The brown fox smirked.

"Oh yeah! Of course I am!" Caesar replied, excitement that was previously absent now building inside him.

"I knew you'd say that!" The Zorua smiled.

"Oi! Before you two go!" Sheila was at the counter calling out to them. She had a small brown bag tied at its end. "I went and packed a little something for both of you! It's on the house just for your friend!" She said with a wink, her child in her pouch doing the same.

"Thank you, Miss Sheila!" Noir said before he came to the counter to get the bag.

"Now then, let's dash outta here! I'll give you a quick tour of Anora, too!" Noir said, chuckling as he went to the exit of the Café.

"Wait for me!" Caesar yelled after him as he went to the exit too. He should really shouldn't be surprised at him running off like that at this point.

* * *

Now then, looks like it's time to explore Anora Town in its majesty in the next chapter! Please leave a review, as always, and I'll see you then!


	6. Oh, Anora!

The chattering of the crowds returned as Caesar went outside of the café, sunlight still shining well past noon. He covered his eyes a bit for them to adjust themselves to the light. Noir was still walking, but just a bit slower for the Froakie to catch up.

"So…" Noir started. "Anora Town is a pretty big place, and I've been living around here long enough to show you some of the most important landmarks!"

"Oh… hm…" Caesar took a look around. The town's building caught his eyes for a few seconds. The way how they were made looked like they were made many years ago, as they showed their age but showed they are still able to support the buildings they were made out of.

"Why all the wood?" He asked.

"You mean the buildings? They're pretty old, even older than most of the Pokémon that live here! You see, Anora Town is over a century old!"

"Really now? I guess that explains why everything looks like… well everything." The way how the Townes looked almost gave a rustic feel. Yet it didn't give off any vibes that made it really old, much less a century old. The mere were a few wide streets that branches out from the main plaza, lined with what looked like streetlights that were not lit yet due to the sun still out, which was far into its long arc, starting to reach the horizon.

"You see those stands over there? Those are our main shops that the most of us go to every day. The Kecleon one is what you might call a general store." Caesar looked back at the Kecleon shaped stand. The lizard Pokémon that was in the front counter was grabbing items from the shelves and selling them to a Numel that was standing right across the counter.

"They sell us a wide arrange from items and they have a different stock every day… Just don't steal from them, because they _really_ don't like thieves." The disguised Zorua shivered a bit. "I… I've seen what they do to thieves."

"Oh… Maybe you shouldn't tell me then..." he said, realizing the Eevee's expression.

Noir nodded and then pointed to the Klefki stand. "That shop over there opens chests that are found in dungeons."

"Chests?"

"Yep! Even though… it's strange that only Klefki can open them. But never mind that!" Noir pointed to the Bastiodon-shaped stand.

"That one over there is one that's very important! That one over there maintains orders and keeps this town in tip top shape!"

There were other stands too, not just ones that were shaped like any specific Pokémon, only having just wide cloths for shade from the sun.

"They're only shops that are just temporary, and they usually stay for a few days before someone else is willing their own wares," Noir explained.

Caesar looked in one of the shops as they passed by in front of them, a Leafeon standing across the counter.

"Berries! Get special, rare, and mysterious berries! Grown with love and can't be found in any Kecleon shop" They said, trying to get potential customers to buy.

It was pretty much like that with the other stores, the salesmon announcing their wares to the ones in from of their stores, almost like they're in a competition for attention from the Pokémon walking in the street.

For Caesar, the tour continued with Noir just showing him around the place, as there were many different places down a street. Noir said that this place is mostly a trader's town because of the many merchant stands. Being decently far from the ocean, Anora Town served as a hub for travelers. As Caesar looked around more, there was a whole variety of Pokemon that the Zorua has said come from all over to have a place to rest to continue on their journey to wherever they go.

"And that's pretty everything you need to know about Anora! Well, just what it's all about here!" He said as Caesar saw down the street to see that there was an exit to the town, but it was a different one from the one that they entered in.

"Oi! Watch where you're going!" Came a voice from from a Raichu that was not far from behind them. It was looking at a Froufrou furiously.

"Tch! _You_ watch where _you're_ going!" Another Pokémon, a Furfrou, shouted back at them.

"Don't on this, jerk!" The Raichu got angrier, slight sparks showing off its cheeks. It didn't seem to faze the Froufrou much.

"Grrr… I'm going to give you a piece of my mind!" The Furfrou retorted.

"Caesar, let's just keep moving," Noir said as he kept going, not batting an eye at the Pokémon that were currently quarreling, looking away from them at another direction.

"R-right…" The amphibian followed suit after him down the same street. He looked briefly back and both Pokémon are almost ready to get into a fight, but he couldn't look for too long to fall behind the fox.

As they kept going, the buildings around them became less big, becoming half as tall as the structures in the center. They also looked a lot cleaner as well. Even thee crowds started to diminish a noticeable amount, with only a few groups of two or three Pokémon walking around.

"I remember when this place was a bit smaller..." Noir mused, eyes wandering throughout the street.

"When did you come here?" Caesar asked.

"Oh, years ago, and this town changed quite a lot since I came here! You know the lampposts they have everywhere? They've only been set up around three years ago! And how they light up the night in this place is really amazing," he said, almost reminiscing.

"Ooh, If you say that I'd certainly like to see it!" Caesar said.

"Oh you will! But I've gotta take you to that view of the whole area! And let me ask you something. Are you afraid of heights?"

"Uh… well… maybe a little…" He suddenly remembered crashing down from the sky from the first moment he arrived in this world. "Since, well… you know, falling from the sky and all."

"Hmm… well, I promise you, where we're going isn't going to be _that_ high! Probably." Noir smirked. They were heading towards the outskirts of the town, heading towards what seemed to like huge hills that weren't that far off from here. Now that he looked back, Caesar noticed that he was higher while they were walking, even able to overlook a good portion of the town. It only took a few minutes for them to get over there.

The hills were lined with walls of rock, with trees lined up in the top of them. But among them, there was an especially tall one that rose above the rest. They still continued to walk in the small forest, until Noir suddenly stopped at the big tree, it's thick trunk lined with branches that reached to the top.

"Well, here we are!" Noir said as he crouched down, readying to jump.

"Wait a minute… is that high place up that tree?!" Caesar asked, a rush of fear running through him, while the tree itself was growing higher and higher the more he stared at it.

"Yup!" Noir smiled.

"W-what…? How am I supposed to…? Why…?" He started to fire off questions, scared that this was going to get the best view above everything.

"Heh, don't be such a scaredy Skitty, Caesar!" Noir grunted as he jumped up several feet to get to one of the branches that was lowest to him, before jumping up a few more branches that were spread across the tree's trunks. As he landed on one of them, he stopped, only to turn around and lay down, his head poking out looking at the Froakie.

"Like I said, just make it natural… unless you're too scared to want to get the best view of the place~!" Noir teased.

"But I really want to…" Caesar said, just loudly enough to get his words to the Eevee.

"Then come on up and jump up here!" Noir called back, his tail swaying with curiosity.

Caesar took a deep breath. "Okay…" He murmured as he readied himself to jump at the branch that Noir first jumped on.

 _3… 2...1… Jump!_ He suddenly went flying in the air, at least that's what he saw himself doing. In that moment, he realized that he did that by himself.

"W-woaaaah!" He suddenly helped out as he rose up, then to come back down, landing on the branch with a small thud when he landed. "Oof…!"

Caesar felt his heartbeat rising. He felt surprisingly… thrilled!

"Heh, you getting a bit excited down there?" Noir called down from up above.

"Actually… y-yeah!" Caesar readied to jump again. He felt like he never could jump this high as a human. He jumped again to the next branch, having more confidence in him, wanting to feel the wind brushing against him for just those few seconds before landing on a higher branch, the leaves rustling as he landed on them. "Woohoo! This feels great!"

He continued leaping up the branches until he landed on the branch that Noir is on. The Eevee had a slight smirk on his face.

"Getting the hang of it, I see! Well, if you're so confident, what do you say we play a little game?We race up to the high point of the tree!" The fox said as he looked up the trunk.

"Uh…" Caesar looked up too, suddenly intimidated by the height. "Woah, that's even higher than I thought down on the ground."

"Come on! What's life without having a little thrill?" Noir elbowed the Froakie on the side.

"I don't know… I guess I can try," Caesar said as he leaned a bit on the trunk.

"Well, you're going to lose, then!" Noir suddenly yelled as he jumped up to one of the higher branches, readying himself to get to the next one.

"Hey!" Caesar growled as he jumped up to reach him, only to see the false Eevee leaping off to the next branch.

"Slow down!" The frog could barely keep up with him, taking leaps to different branches a bit closer to him, but fast enough to keep a short distance away from him.

"Nuh-uh! You already accepted this challenge, and I'm gonna beat you!" He continued leaping, not slowing down a bit.

The chase continued as the canopy of the trees that were lower than the one they were on disappeared, some of he light from the sun shone through as small rays through the many leaves that were around them. Even though there wasn't much to see but more and more branches for Caesar to leap on, he could see a certain thick one that jutted out from the trunk.

 _That has to be it!_

They both kept getting higher and higher, the leaves rustling as they went off from branch to branch. Despite his newfound excitement, he just can't seem to catch up with the Dark-type.

"Haha! Yes! I win!" Noir congratulated himself as he landed on the thick branch, smiling proudly. Caesar only landed right next to him just a few seconds later, panting.

"Hah… Y-you just only got… a head start…!" Caesar said in between pants.

"You're just jealous of how better I am at jumping than you!" Noir said back, smiling with content. "Now I can just take this Illusion off since no one can see us!"

The Eevee's body glowed a sharp red before Noir's actual dark furred appearance came back, his blue eyes gleaming in the sunlight.

"…" Caesar kept silent to control his breathing as Noir shifted to the tree's trunk and saw that there was a hole with a small pile of items in it, and there was something familiar that he recognized.

"Ah, there it is!" Noir said as he took out the item. It looked like the bag that Emma owned, but it looked like it has lost some of its color, the age and wear that was apparent.

"That's your bag?" Caesar asked. "It looks a bit worn down, doesn't it?"

"Yep! But it has yet to fail me!" He caresses the bag, getting the some of the dust off with a brush of his paw. His smile faltered, which Caesar noticed.

"Hey… is something wrong?" Caesar asked, worried.

"Nothing really… I'm just thinking."

"Of what?"

"This bag. It's very important to me," Noir explained. "It was handed down from my mom."

"Your mom…?" Caesar thought about that. He briefly remembered that Shinx running past him with her mother trailing behind him. That got him thinking about that even Noir had parents, yet he never gave mention of them until now...

"Yeah. She was an explorer, and she always wore this bag. It was passed on to me, so... you could say it's a family heirloom of sorts."

"Heirloom? Aren't you supposed to keep those untouched when they're passed on?" He asked.

"Explorer bags aren't meant to be preserved, only used while exploring! If I never use it, who will?" Noir clutched the bag closer to him.

"Oh, I see." _Given how that Noir isn't talking about where his mother is right now… I shouldn't pry too much._

"One day, I just wanna be like her! Form a team and make a name for myself out there in the big world!" He waved across in front of him along the landscape. The sun was starting to reach the horizon now, slight rays of of orange starting to streak across the horizon. Caesar lifted a hand to block some of the light heading towards him.

Anora Town was off in the opposite direction from the sun, far enough to not hear anything loud from there, but close enough to see the blurry shapes of Pokémon walking and standing around town.

"Woah, this view looks amazing," Caesar said as he was looking around more, not far from here, there were more hills and trees leading off in one direction. Most of the place was mostly meadow, the grasses stretching to near the horizon. There was even a river that he could see as well. It down to an ocean that could be barely seen past the horizon.

"I told ya so! Better than seeing all of it while falling from who knows where, right? Speaking of which, you said you don't remember anything than that you were a human, huh?"

"Yeah, though I still don't remember anything other than that… and my name of course."

"Hmm…" Noir continued to eye at him. "You know… I've always heard of humans in myths… stories for younger Pokémon and all that."

"Huh. So that's why you believed me when I said when I am one… well, _used_ to be one," he corrected himself.

"That's part of it… you see, I've never understood myths. I mean, they had to come from _somewhere_ , right? The ones who always tell them say that they're told from other Pokémon who have heard that story. If they come from somewhere, there has to be some truth coming from it!" The Zorua stood up.

"So… if anything, you're a living myth!" Noir smiled. "And that's so cool!"

"Cool…?"

"Uh-huh! I want to explore to find the truth of these myths! And I have someone to help me do it!"

"And that someone is me… isn't it?" Caesar asked.

"Yep! So please, I'm asking you! Do you wanna team up and explore with me?" Noir proposed.

"Heh… well, since I already decided to stick with you, why can't I not explore with you? Sure!"

"Oh thank you thank you thank you!" Noir took out the small bag that Sheila gave to them. "This calls for a celebration!"

He loosened he tire that held the bag closed, opening it. He reached down there and took out several cubes, ones that were colored blue and black separately.

"What are those?" Caesar asked as he eyed at the cubes, almost reminding him of candy of some sort.

"Gummis! These little treats are packed with deliciousness!" Noir put one of the black ones into his his mouth.

"Mmm… A little bitter, but it tastes great!"

"Huh. Can I try one of those?"

"Sure! Just grab the blue ones though!"

Caesar obliged and picked out one of the blue Gummis into his bag and put in in his out mouth. Instantly he felt a rush on his taste buds, almost unable to describe how good it tastes. It felt like tasting pure water that had hints of sweetness in it.

"W-wow…" He said while eating it. It really did feel and taste like candy!

"Heh, as expected for a Water-type!" Noir grinned, looking at the amazed look on the Froakie.

After a few moments, Caesar didn't realize that the Gummi was gone until he felt that there was nothing but the lingering taste. "That tasted amazing! Give me another!"

So, the duo started to eat the Gummis from the bag, with Noir grabbing the black ones and Caesar grabbing the blue ones. They both quickly ate through the contents of the bag until there was nothing left.

"Mmm… That was delicious!" Noir exclaimed.

"Couldn't agree with you more," Caesar sad, his belly feeling full from eating the Gummis. "But why are there only blue and black ones?"

"Oh, there are more kinds! Just not really the ones fitting for our types," The Zorua explained.

"Wait… so we only got ones for Water and Dark types?"

"Yup!"

"But… you were an Eevee when we were back in town… How did Sheila know...?"

Noir gave off a slight chuckle. "Oh, she knows that I'm not really an Eevee, and she sells me those Gummis for cheap! She has way too many that she doesn't sell, so she gives them to me!"

"Huh. That's why she says you're one of her favorite customers, huh?"

"Precisely!" Noir stretched his front legs a bit. "Looks like the sun's going down."

Caesar looked and saw that the sun was starting to dip into the horizon, the light starting to fade around them into a blazing orange. Looking at it, he started to feel tired, and yawned as a result.

"Getting tired, huh?" Noir asked

"Yeah… I didn't realize that all of this would be so exhausting…" Caesar replied, the tiredness setting in.

"It's been a pretty eventful day, hasn't it?" Noir looked off into the sunset, the slight wind causing parts of his fur to swing with it.

"Aw! But I wanted you to see Anora at nighttime! But if you say so…" Noir's ears dropped in disappointment. "But… maybe you can stay up a bit longer…? At least until the sun comes down completely."

"Well, I guess I can do that," the water-type said as he looked at the sunset with him.

"You know, Caesar? I'm really glad you're with me on this. Exploring, going on adventures… You know those Pokémon that were fighting? It's been happening more and more these days, and it's been pretty rough."

"Well, what else am I supposed to do? Though… I still I have to get used to all of this..." Caesar remarked.

"Well, I'll help you along the way! I'll teach what I have learned and we could learn more about the world together! How does that sound?"

"Heh, that would be really nice," the Froakie answered.

"Then it's a deal!" Noir said as he grabbed Caesar's hand, shaking it. The former human just let him do it, shaking with him after a second.

"And now it's official!" Noir grinned.

"With you around, maybe staying here wouldn't be too bad," Caesar remarked. "But is should head down from here. I don't think I can sleep at this height…" He briefly looked over the branch, seeing how far high they were.

"Aw… well, if you say so. I'm just gonna stick up here!"

Caesar gave a small wave as he started his hops down the big tree, eventually hitting the ground, feeling the grass under him.

He sighed. "This place is so nice…. but I still can't remember anything…" he said to himself.

"Why am I even here?" Then he remembered something else. That voice he heard! The Munna and the Hydreigon chasing it!

"Maybe that's why…"

Noir said that he wanted to explore. Maybe he can find out where that Munna could be. It could be a vision of what was going to happen to her if he didn't help!

The Froakie yawned again. "I shouldn't think about it too much… or else I won't sleep…" he felt the ground again, it was soft with the grass that surrounded the place. Comfortable enough to sleep in, perhaps. He slowly laid back with his head facing upward, looking at the darkening sky, the first stars starting to shine through the leaves of the small forest. Noir was still up there.

"Does he even sleep up there…?" He groggily said before continuing to look up. Before he knew it, his eyes were closed as he dazed off.

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 **A/N: Whew, another chapter done, and I really appreciate the support with the follows and the reviews I've been getting! Keep them coming! See you in the next chapter!**


	7. On the Outskirts

**A/N: Heyo! It's been a while! You know busy schoolwork and stuff. And it gets in the way of writing ;w; but I'm have delivered another chapter!**

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The sun was well past the horizon, it's light gone, filling it with darkness. It wasn't completely pitch black as the stars were glistening, the sounds of the night changing. An occasional hoot came from a Noctowl deep in the forest to the rustling of a Rattata wandering through the foliage. There was a figure slowly walking on the grasses, seeming to wander from direction to direction. The Pokémon was walking along with a slight stumble in his stride, injuries not fully recovered.

He sighed. "That Zorua should've given me more Oran Berries… I can barely walk like this…"

He looked at his arms, inspecting his cuts. He winced as he poked at one of them, the sting of recent slashed flesh causing him to reel back from further touching, hissing bit. "He surprised me… that's for sure..."

* * *

 _A couple of hours ago…_

The Sneasel was standing on the outskirts of Anora Town, close enough to see who would come in and out, but far away so that no one could've see him. It was almost noon, the sun creating shade that came from the tree above him. He was hiding in a small patch of them that were off the beaten path, doing his best he could hide. He kept his eyes on the gates, looking for a certain Pokémon to walk out. He was told by the others that the target was going to head this way. It's been around an hour now, and he was starting to get a bit antsy, tapping one of his sharp feet on the ground impatiently.

"Any time now… she better come…" As soon as he said that, he took a good look again, his eyes widening to realize who was there. An Espeon carrying a bag that was headed out of town.

The Sneasel grinned. "Target found," he said to himself as he hid himself away from the shadows as best as he could. He waited patiently as he waited for the right moment to strike.

"Now… I gotta find out where he is," The Espeon thought to herself. She was walking at a brisk pace from town, the entrance quickly leaving behind her. She slowed down to reach inside her bag and pull out a scroll. She unfurled it to reveal a map. She looked intently at it, her paws pointing at a few places that were marched on it. "Let's see… Anora Town's right here… Noe Town's to the west… I exited through the West Gate, right…?"

Before she could turn back to check, she suddenly felt a very cold wind suddenly hit her, as if a small blizzard just came out of nowhere.

"W-what is this?!" She reflectively closed her eyes and crouch down to kept low to the ground. She tried to run away back to the entrance to the gate to get help, but it was useless as she felt her movement slow down.

"I-Icy Wind?!" She yelped as she struggles to get herself moving.

"Heh, way too easy!" A Sneasel approaches her, grinning happily.

"W-who are you?!" The Espeon asked, panicked trying to run, but it was no use as she was too slow for the assailant's speed, knocked down from a swipe from his claws..

"Tsk, you don't need to know that…" He quickly grabbed a hold of her bag. "I'll be taking this, thank you very much."

"N-no!" The Psychic-type struggled back, trying to hold him off. As they were fighting over the bag, someone else glanced at the two Pokémon fighting. It dashed out of the gate towards them.

Due to her sluggish movements, it didn't take much longer as she lost her grip, the Sneasel taking the bag from her.

"Heh, thanks for the bag!" was all he said before he dashed off.

"S-stop!" Emma tried to give chase, but before she could, a brown figure rushed past her.

"You thief! Give that back!" The Eevee yelled as he was sprinting fast towards the Dark-Ice type.

The Sneasel looked back to see someone other than the Espeon pursuing after him. "Huh?! You damn well stay away from this!" He started to run faster, trying to get away. He could see a section of woods that weren't far away from here. He internally smiled.

The Espeon tried to run after the two of them, but she was too slow before they were too far away to see. "T-that Eevee… I… I hope he'll be alright…"

* * *

The Sneasel shook his head. "Of all Pokémon… it should've been an easy job. Damn it all… and with the one that fell from the sky…"

He kept walking, the night shrouding his movements. It continued before he saw something. There was a light just ahead of him, flashing occasionally.

"There it is." He continued walking forward, the source of the light coming more clear, a campfire being the point where all of it come from. But that wasn't the only thing that was there. There was other Pokémon that was sitting around the fire. It had feathers and talons, and a short crooked beak. It's tail was feathered with more feathers protruding outwards of its head.

"Hey," The Sneasel simply said to the Murkrow. It cause the feathers Pokémon to look up at him.

"Well, Shade. It looks like you certainly took your time-" He said, but stopped as he saw the wounds on the weasel's body. "What happened to you?!"

"Ran into some trouble, Vito..." he simply explained.

"Well… as long as you got what the boss asked for, it shouldn't be any trouble."

"About that… I don't have it," he said quickly, looking down as he came closer to him.

"Y-y-you didn't retrieve it!?" Vito asked.

"Yeah, yeah…"

"I'm sure that Espeon should've been an easy target, even for you. Unless you were _lying_ about how strong you were," the feathered Pokémon raised an eye towards him.

"Grr! It's not that! Someone else came after me. A Zorua, he gave me these cuts. Look at them!" He extended his arms, showing the visible cuts that were seen.

"Woah…" he looked at the cuts. "But are you sure about that? I never heard of such a Pokémon living around here… Especially not Anora."

"I'm damn sure I am! Bastard disguised himself as an Eevee..."

"But you could've handled him easily, right?" Vito raised one of his eyebrows.

"I should've… I had him in my grasp… But some Pokémon fell from the sky and ruined everything!" the Sneasel moved his arms to demonstrate, his claws slamming down onto his other claw, making a sharp thud.

"Are you serious? One of them falling around here?!" Vito looked up at the sky for a brief second. "How odd…"

"Then he got me with that Blast Seed and took the bag away from me!" He finished before he felt his weakness setting in before he sat down.

"Youch… that must've hurt…" the Murkrow got up, rummaging through his bag. "Let's see if there's something that can patch that up."

It didn't take too long for him to pull out a roll of bandages. Shade just took it and started to cover the cuts, wincing a bit before he finished up.

"You know, the boss isn't going to be happy about this…" Vito's tone turned from worry to a grave concern. "And this isn't your first time failing such a mission…"

"You don't think I know that?!" Shade snapped back at him. "What the hell do we need that bag for anyway…?"

"Wait, you haven't heard of the Magnagate researchers? They're a big deal!"

"Spare me the details 'cause I don't really care… all I've been told is that I just needed to steal that Espeon's bag, and not much else…" Shade simply stared at the fire, almost scowling.

"But what's weird is… that Zorua didn't just leave me empty handed. I could've been far worse off than now, but he just gave enough to not to go after him…"

"Hm…" Vito's eyes closed in contemplation. "What an interesting fellow…"

A few moments of silence passed before Vito broke the silence. "About that Pokémon that fell from the sky… Are you sure it was actually one of them and not some random rock?"

"Certain as I can slice up your feathers! I don't see any blue rocks falling out of the sky every day!" Shade retorted.

"Should report that to the boss…" Vito murmured, unfazed by the insult.

"I'm heading to sleep, don't wake me up." Shade said bluntly as he walked to the tent that was standing behind the Murkrow.

"Hey, did you know what kind of Pokémon fell from the sky?"

"Hell if I know. It was blue, so it could be some water type Pokémon for all I care."

"You may be right..." Vito said. "This could be something big. Maybe we should keep an eye for that Zorua, and that other Pokémon, too."

"Yeah, yeah… Whatever." Shade lazily dismisses it before he disappeared inside the tent, the Murkrow left alone beside the fire. The feathered Dark type rummaged through the bag once more, before tossing a few Oran Berries to the front of the tent.

"Oi! Have these too! Can't have you too injured, you know." He said.

It only took a moment for a white claw to reach out from the tent flap to grab the berries before disappearing back inside.

He sighed as he just sat back down. "What am I gonna do with this kid…?"

His thoughts wandered back to the Zorua that Shade encountered. It sounds like he'll be a threat to their operations around Anora Town. He kept a mental check of himself to keep an eye out for him if he ever encounters him. And that Pokémon that came from the sky… it's certainly very important information to keep note of.

It took a little while before the tongues of flame from the fire diminished into embers that softly glowed, slowly dimming.

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 **Well, sorry if this is a short one, but I still have my writing drive! Please leave a review! I'd really appreciate it! See y'all in the next chapter!**


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